Read what Rick Gianatos wrote about working together with Shirley Bassey.

He has produced a very successful maxi 1979 (This Is My Life (disco version) / Copacabana (At The Copa)) and is a Shirley Bassey fan.

I actually worked with her on "My Life" and "Copa." However, for contractual reasons, because they were originated with her prior deal with The Entertainment Company, the credit on them only says "re-recorded" and remixed. I actually produced them. Copacabana was begun and never finished for the "Magic is You" album.

I had remixed two albums for United Artists that the company was very happy with: Samantha Sang and Pamela Stanley (both very dance oriented pop albums). Then they asked me to work with Shirley, and it was on a trial basis for the possibility of producing her next album. They wanted to see if she would like me. We got along extremely well, did the two tracks, and I was signed to do her next album. We began picking material, rehearsing, and I actually cut several tracks.

My concept for the album was: Shirley Bassey is so phenomenal in concert, let's select songs and put them on the album as if we were preparing a brand new concert with new material. We selected the material with that in mind. I also wanted to give her some R&B flavour and of course some dance material.

For the dance tracks, we chose a dance version of "I'm not in Love," the 10cc hit. I had been enamoured of a version cut by Petula Clark, only released in England, and I wanted to adapt that for the U.S. Our second selection was a Latin tinged track called "Brazilian Nights." I cut the tracks in Philadelphia with most of the musicians from MSFB, arranged and conducted by John Davis, who had produced and orchestrated many of the hot Philly based material of that era.

For ballads, I was inspired by what Nancy Wilson had been doing with Gene Page, and I went to Chicago to cut R&B flavoured material. There are tracks that have Shirley's name on them, and Melissa Manchester's "Don't Cry Out Loud" was one of them. We cut that in Chicago, to give it a little of that R&B flavour to the drama of the song. We also selected some other material written by Thom Bell (so successful with ballad material), and also started those tracks in Chicago.

Before we got far along in rehearsals, unbeknownst to me, Shirley had been having some money disagreements with the record company, and after several weeks of rehearsals in her rented home in Beverly Hills, she departed for Europe and the record company informed me that she was leaving the label!

I ended up redoing "I'm Not in Love" and having a hit with it featuring Scherrie Payne, who was signed to me at the time. She is Freda Payne's younger sister and she was the final lead singer of The Supremes (1974-77).

I didn't see Shirley again for about a year, and I ran in to her at the supermarket of all places. We had a wonderful visit after that, and I gave her copies of Scherrie's release and other product I had out at the time.

Shirley went on to cut "Don't Cry Out Loud" on the next album she did, but of course, none of the rest of our choices were recorded by her with.

She was wonderful to work with in the studio, extremely cooperative and took my direction very well (considering part of it was on "My Life," which she kind of knew already, wouldn't you say?). Yet, she took my approach to heart as to how to do it for a club version, and I think the results were quite good.

I saw her in concert last year and she did a phenomenal show. However, because I didn't know who was representing her for the concert, I was not able to connect with her during her stay. Maybe next time.

I don't have a website at this time. I have since retired from the music business and I am running software support and the National Help Desk for a major Los Angeles law firm. I have fond remembrances of many of the great talents I worked with over the years, and Shirley is at the top of the list.

UPDATED MARCH 2007: I have now returned to the music business and currently have in release on Pickwick in the UK The DreamGirls Dance Project. For more information, please check out the website: www.DreamGirlsDanceProject.com

As a fan of her music, I'm hoping more of her more recent material is released on CD. I am happy to now have "Something," "Something Else," "I, Capricorn," and "And I Love You So" on CD. EMI in the U.K. keeps re-releasing 50's material. If I see "Kiss Me Honey Honey" on one more CD, I'll scream!!! I want material newer than 1965! "Doesn't Anybody Miss Me," "Shirley Means Bassey," "Never Never Never" and so on. Hopefully, with the four more recent CD's they have finally remastered, maybe they will continue with the newer albums.

Thanks for getting back to me, and if you do run across my 12" versions on CD, let me know, and I will let you know if I find them.

Take care...

Rick Gianatos